Display

The Sony Xperia XA Ultra comes with a 6" screen - even by today's standards that's big! And it has 1080p resolution, giving it a pixel density of 367ppi, sharper than the 720p screen of the small XA (294ppi). We are really happy with how fine details look on the screen and we think this sort of resolution is quite adequate for pretty much anyone - not to mention the power efficiency and graphics performance benefits.

The panel used is an IPS LCD and it has great viewing angles. It doesn't have Sony's Triluminos panel tech like on the Xperia X lineup but honestly, we can't tell just by looking at it and without comparing it directly to another display that has it.

Color accuracy is average with an average deltaE of 7.4 and a maximum of 13.4. Those are similar readings to the Xiaomi Mi Max, for example, but worse than some large AMOLEDs (e.g. Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016) or Oppo R7 Plus).

The main culprits are the white balance, which is on the cool side, and the red channel. There are sliders to adjust the screen's RGB channels separately, but eyeballing a more accurate result is next to impossible. Just get a color balance you like and stick with it.

Speaking of brightness, the Sony Xperia XA Ultra screen is very bright, brighter than most screens its size. It went up to 530 nits while keeping the contrast relatively high at just over 1,000:1.

Display test

100% brightness

Black, cd/m2

White, cd/m2

Contrast ratio

Sony Xperia XA

0.38

523

1376

Sony Xperia XA Ultra

0.50

531

1071

Sony Xperia C5 Ultra

0.37

422

1144

Oppo F1 Plus

0.00

351

∞

Oppo R7 Plus

-

351

∞

Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)

0.00

427

∞

Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016) max auto

0.00

609

∞

Xiaomi Mi Max

0.46

424

922

LeEco Le Max 2

0.30

426

1444

When you go the other way, push the brightness slider to minimum, the display put out 6.7 nits - low enough that you can use it in the middle of the night.

Sunlight legibility is surprisingly good. AMOLEDs still offer a slightly better performance, but most LCDs in this price range - and several flagships among which the Xperia Z5 - don't do quite as well on a bright sunny day. Sony gets top marks for the XA Ultra display.

Sunlight contrast ratio

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+4.615

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge4.439

OnePlus 34.424

Samsung Galaxy S74.376

HTC One A94.274

Samsung Galaxy A34.241

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge4.124

Samsung Galaxy Note54.09

Huawei Nexus 6P4.019

OnePlus X3.983

Vivo Xplay5 Elite3.983

Oppo R7s3.964

Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)3.918

Samsung Galaxy A53.895

Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor3.879

Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor3.873

Samsung Galaxy A83.859

Apple iPhone 63.838

Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)3.817

Motorola Moto X (2014)3.816

Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode3.802

Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)3.789

Apple iPhone 6s3.783

Meizu Pro 53.781

Microsoft Lumia 6503.772

Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)3.756

Oppo F1 Plus3.709

Vivo X5Pro3.706

Apple iPhone SE3.681

Samsung Galaxy A73.679

Meizu PRO 63.659

BlackBerry Priv3.645

Apple iPhone 6s Plus3.53

Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode3.523

Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)3.523

Acer Jade Primo3.521

Microsoft Lumia 9503.512

Oppo R7 Plus3.499

Samsung Galaxy J73.422

Meizu MX53.416

Oppo R73.32

Samsung Galaxy J23.235

Sony Xperia X Performance3.234

Motorola Moto X Play3.222

Huawei P93.195

Lenovo Vibe Shot3.113

Motorola Moto X Force3.105

LG Nexus 5X3.092

Huawei Mate S3.073

Microsoft Lumia 640 XL3.065

Apple iPhone 6 Plus3.023

Sony Xperia X2.989

Samsung Galaxy Note2.97

Huawei Mate 82.949

Sony Xperia XA Ultra2.906

LG G52.905

HTC One S2.901

Sony Xperia Z52.876

Microsoft Lumia 5502.851

Sony Xperia Z5 compact2.784

LG V102.744

Xiaomi Redmi 32.735

Sony Xperia M52.69

Huawei P9 Lite2.679

Vivo V3Max2.659

Xiaomi Mi 4i2.641

Sony Xperia XA2.609

Xiaomi Mi 4c2.574

LeEco Le Max 22.567

Microsoft Lumia 6402.563

Lenovo Moto G42.544

Oppo F12.528

Sony Xperia Z5 Premium2.525

Sony Xperia M4 Aqua2.503

Motorola Moto G2.477

Huawei G82.471

Sony Xperia Z2.462

Huawei Honor 72.406

Sony Xperia E52.386

ZUK Z1 by Lenovo2.382

HTC 102.378

Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)2.378

HTC One E9+2.305

Alcatel One Touch Hero2.272

Lenovo Vibe K4 Note2.254

Sony Xperia C5 Ultra2.253

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)2.249

Sony Xperia C4 Dual2.235

Motorola Moto G (2014)2.233

LG Nexus 52.228

Huawei P82.196

Xiaomi Redmi Note 22.166

OnePlus Two2.165

HTC One X2.158

LG Aka2.145

Archos 50 Diamond2.134

Xiaomi Redmi Note2.119

Acer Liquid X22.084

Huawei P8lite2.078

Moto G 3rd gen max manual2.026

Xiaomi Mi Max1.996

Sony Xperia E4g1.972

OnePlus One1.961

Meizu m3 note1.923

Meizu m2 note1.892

BlackBerry Leap1.892

HTC Butterfly1.873

ZTE Nubia Z9 mini1.759

Sony Xperia U1.758

Asus Zenfone Selfie1.68

Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)1.675

ZTE Nubia Z91.659

Jolla Jolla1.605

Motorola Moto E1.545

Sony Xperia M1.473

Xiaomi Redmi 21.311

Sony Xperia C1.283

Meizu MX1.221

Sony Xperia E1.215

Connectivity

The Sony Xperia XA Ultra comes in single and dual-SIM variants. It has LTE connectivity, Cat. 4 150Mbps/50Mbps, and HSPA+. Other Internet connectivity options include Wi-Fi a/b/g/n (150Mbps speed, there's no ac).

Bluetooth 4.1 has both the Low Energy option and the high-quality aptX audio streaming codec. NFC is on board as well.

The microUSB 2.0 port handles charging and data, obviously, but it also supports USB OTG so you can hook up external hardware. If you're going to use flash drives, make sure to install a file browser first as there isn't one out of the box.

Sony's Video & TV SideView app shows an electronic program guide and can control Bravia TVs via Wi-Fi (there's no IR blaster to control regular TVs or other appliances).

FM radio is available for old-school entertainment. Like with TV, Sony has added some Internet smarts and built TrackID into the radio app.

Battery

The Sony Xperia XA Ultra has a tiny battery - just 2,700mAh. We're not being overly harsh, the C5 Ultra is about this size (a bit thinner, actually) and it has a 2,930mAh battery. Hell, even the Xperia Z5 Compact has a 2,700mAh battery. Yes, the 4.6" phone!

Considering that battery life was the major weak point of the Xperia XA, which had a similar-sized battery (2,300mAh), the same chipset and a smaller screen, we just didn't expect much before we started the following battery tests.

It turns out things are better than expected, a decent step up from the 5" XA (not so much the endurance as the performance in the web and video tests). However, endurance hasn't improved since the C5 Ultra and is fairly average for 2016. Other recent 6" phones (and bigger) push up against the 100h endurance rating mark and can last close to 20 hours of browsing the web. We're not afraid to take those to even the longest tech conventions, but with the XA Ultra we will pack an external battery.

The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.